Customer Reviews

Monday Night Mayhem [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently witnessed ESPN's "25 Greatest Sports Movies of the Last 25 Years" going back to 1979. This film was not on that list for obvious reasons -- it portrays a warts and all image of Monday Night Football, showing Howard Cosell's drunkenness in Philadelphia to Chet Forte's gambling addiction to the insensitive way Roone Arledge replaced Keith Jackson with Frank Gifford after one season calling "Monday Night Football".

It even shows Cosell (portrayed by the outstanding character actor John Turturro) taking off his toupee in one scene. In another scene, Cosell boils over after talking head Gifford continues to refer to Dallas Cowboys safety Dennis Thurman as Thurman Munson.

"Didn't Thurman Munson die in 1979," Cosell asks a producer after Gifford goofs another call during a broadcast. "So how is he making all these tackles?!"

So ESPN's "25 best sports films" could not embarrass its ownership (ABC) by giving credence to this movie. But you should give credence to it at your earliest opportunity. It is by turns informative, entertaining, funny and melancholy. It has all the ingredients of real life and television that make both so interesting.

TNT was praised and criticized for this production and seems to have responded by no longer programming it. That is a pity for this is one of the most truthful movies about professional football since "North Dallas Forty", the Pete Gent book made into a feature film about the Dallas Cowboys of the 1970s.

There is one direct parallel between the films -- Don Meredith. He was portrayed in both movies as something of a buffoon. Was he? I don't know. But watching this movie over and over when it first came out was one of the most fun-filled events of my autumn 2002. If you enjoy sports films, this one should be in your library.

"Monday Night Mayhem" is extremely entertaining, even for viewers who don't have much interest in football. My wife falls into that category, and she really enjoyed it.

This was originally a made-for-TV movie (TNT network) depicting the formation and early years of ABC's Monday Night Football. It's fast-paced, funny, occasionally moving, and always interesting. The script is heavily based on the book of the same name, which I would also recommend (authors are Bill Carter and Marc Gunther).

The movie's focus is on Howard Cosell. John Turturro is absolutely terrific as Humble Howard, America's most beloved and most hated sportscaster. John Heard as Roone Arledge turns in an excellent job, too. The rest of the cast is nicely filled out as well. Having several old MNF games from the 1970s on videotape, I can attest that the makers of the movie put a lot of effort into getting the look of the times just right. The soundtrack also does a nice job of bringing those years to life.

I'm fortunate to have grown up watching MNF in the '70s and remember fondly the magic of the early years when MNF was so cutting edge. In those days before cable, there was nothing else like it on TV. As an earlier reviewer put it, it would be nice if another Howard Cosell came along to liven up Monday Night Football again, but it's safe to say there will never be another Howard Cosell.

I highly recommend this movie, both for older folks like me who will enjoy the nostalgia, and for the younger generations who can get a taste of what they missed.

Football fans will be able to enjoy this film and have that pregame feeling about the start of what is still the longest running weekday "prime-time show" known as Monday Night Football on ABC. Sports history buffs can get a sense of many things, including the peaks, valleys and drama of all the behind the scenes action. After seeing this film, one doesn't get the sense that it was made for cable (TNT originally aired it.... More than once!)
John Turturro plays Howard Cosell, and does a great job. The voice, mannerisms, and dramatizations are worthy of noting during this great performance. The only issue is that it seems Turturro was too young to portray Cosell during any era, especially by the early '80s when the real Cosell looked quite a bit older. Eli Wallach and John Heard were terrific as ABC president Leonard Rothstein and MNF producer Roone Alredge, respectively. These two men turned in great performances and were cast perfectly. You are able to gain a sense of what these men were like, even if you had no idea who they were. The on screen portrayals of fellow broadcasters Don Meredith and Frank Gifford are simple but still pretty good.
The movie does a great job telling the story of how MNF was born. Roone Alredge from ABC truly revolutionized the game by adding flare, more cameras, more angles, and the three-man booth.
One problem is that film lacks real game footage that was true to the era (1970-85.) There seem to be re-creations of the games and their moments, and the uniforms are a bit "off" during some of the game highlights. Colors don't match, and stadium backdrops are not true the game that was going on at that time. For example, take a close look at the Joe Namath shot. (That is not him.) Also, there are a few moments that were supposed to be taking place in the 1970s but some of the extras looked too present-era to pull this off. The catchy "Monday Night Football" theme that was used in the movie for the first broadcast in 1970 was wrong, too. The theme that was played wasn't made popular until about ten years later.
Overall, an excellent film. Football fans should definitely see this. MNF is still one of the greatest additions to the field of sports and entertainment.

As someone who didn't get the chance to see the Cosell era of Monday Night Football, this movie was great for me to see. Tuturo does an outstanding job with Cosell and the whole movie really highlights a "golden era" in the world of MNF. As someone who enjoys watching football, it was good for me to the see the roots of the primetime game and how it revolutionized the way football was televised. After seeing this movie, I can only hope that another "Howard Cosell" joins MNF in the future to stir things up a bit.

No wonder that the glory days of MNF on ABC never came back after the trio Gifford-Meredith-Cosell dismantled. Even the most uninteresting and boring games were overcame by what was not only a sport event broadcasting, but mostly a family entertainment show.

We tend to think that all peers who work together actually get along, when we see many examples, like this one, that this is not entirely true. The battle of egos got worse every new week, and the relationship of the trio amongst each other and also with other spheres at ABC Network is the main idea of the film. Fortunately we, the audience, didn't really notice any kind of tension while they were commenting, but I must admit that if an on-the-air harsh discussion happened, this would also be entertaining to me...

This is a behind-the-scenes of one of the most popular TV Shows in America. One that revolutionized the way sports were broadcasted. The live-action of a football game shown in every detail possible. The entertainment side that no one had ever thought about until it happened. The model that sometimes tries to show up again on ESPN, but not with the same brilliancy of the past.

This DVD is a must-see, no matter if you are a lover of the MNF show and/or the sports history and/or the television history.

Anyone who's addicted to Monday Night Football but doesn't know how the whole thing got started should see this movie. John Turturro gives a remarkable performance as Howard Cosell, who is both the most prominent and sympathetic character in the movie. Brad Beyer is pretty funny as Don Meredith, and John Heard draws the audience into his enthusiasm for MNF as Roone Arledge. There is plenty of archival football footage, and even the music goes along well with the action. I really enjoyed this movie; besides giving a good account of how MNF began, it satisfied my craving for anything NFL-related during the off-season.

I don't watch football. I could care less about football. The great thing is that you don't have to enjoy football at all to enjoy this immensely entertaining and brilliantly acted behind-the-scenes true-story. I would rank this up there with "Barbarians at the Gate" and "Reversal of Fortune" as one of the best docu-dramas ever made. John Turturro is spellbinding as Howard Cosell (much better in my opinion that Jon Voight's Oscar-nominated performance in the same role in "Ali"). If he doesn't get an Emmy for this, I'd be really disappointed. John Heard and Brad Beyer also turn in great perfomances as well. The writing really gets to the emotional depth of each character. Even if you hate football, you'll find a lot to like in this fascinating true story of battling egos, corporate politics and history-making moments.

Even though I wasn't around at the time Howard, "Dandy", Frank, and a host of other Monday Night Football commentators were entertaining the continent, I have a large interest in sports history and found this movie an amazing dramatization of this classic television program. This is a wonderful movie based on the lives of the men that made football one of the greatest sports on Earth!

I absolutely loved the film, but I am a stickler for details.

I wonder who researched the details of the script,

Blooper #1: The popular "Monday Night Football" intro theme that was used in the movie during the first broadcast on September 21, 1970 wasn't actually made popular until the early 80's.

Blooper #2: One problem is that film lacks real game footage from the 1970-1983 era. There seem to be recreations of games as opposed to actual footage of some of the more memorable games as shown as game highlights.

Blooper #3: On the night John Lennons death was announced the teams shown playing Miami vs. the Raiders was incorrect. The teams were actually Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. In addition, Don Meredith wasn't in the broadcast booth that night, instead it was Fran Tarkenton.

Blooper #4: Take a close look at the Joe Namath shot; that is not Joe Namath.

Blooper #5: They showed O.J. Simpson in the ABC MNF broadcast booth during the now infamous September 5th, 1983 Monday Night Football game when Howard Cosell made his "little monkey" comment about Alvin Garrett. I have a copy of that entire game and O.J. hadn't quite appeared on the scene yet. It was still Gifford, Cosell and Meredith.

Blooper #6: They showed Howard Cosell doing the "play by play" action and saying "He could... go... all... the... way!" First of all, as a "color commentator," Howard Cosell never did the play-by-play in a MNF game except during his "Halftime Highlights" segment doing voice-overs of the Sunday games played the day before.

Blooper #7: I have literally watched hundreds of vintage video "Halftime Highlights" clips of Howard Cosell from 1970-1983, and Howard Cosell never used the phrase "He could... go... all... the... way!" It was Chris Berman of ESPN who coined this particular phrase. Cosell's catchphrase was "He's going to go all the way!" which is very similar.

I found most of these facts here [...]

Like I said in my title, I still loved it.

*Monday Night Mayhem* is a treat whether you remember the early days of MNF or not. We weren't huge football fans, but my family never missed a Monday game--it was like a big, national party. Not least because you were always assured of battles in the broadcast booth as well as on the field.

No one who was around at the time was unaware of Howard Cosell; you couldn't miss a guy with his flamboyance and polysyllabic vocabulary, very different from any other announcer before or since. And John Turturro's portrayal of Cosell is just as much a treat as the original. Although he's not a dead ringer physically, he uses Cosell's mannerisms and tone to create the character. John Heard is also great as Roone Arledge, whose groundbreaking style set the tone for sportscasting for the next several decades. And, as is customary, the Turturro brothers come as a set, with Nicholas Turturro giving a funny and engaging portrait of MNF director Chet Forte. The period is conveyed convincingly, from the old MNF opening sequence to the outrageous seventies fashions to the wide-open attitude (you will just never again hear sportscasters give the kind of blistering, slicing commentary that Howard Cosell regularly did--it's too controversial for a sports business ruled by Corporate America).

So if you remember MNF fondly and want an enjoyable trip down memory lane, or if you weren't around then and would like to see a sports scene that was way more colorful than today, see if you can grab a copy of *Monday Night Mayhem.* It'll be worth your money, and you'll be watching it more than once.